PTI to protest against MQM-P for rushing KMC budget through city council

The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has announced that it plans to stage a protest against the Muttahida Qaumi Movement – Pakistan (MQM—P) for approving a 10-month budget for the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) without giving the PTI ample time to debate its financial details.

“We received the agenda of the day just two hours before the session was called to order and the chair did not allow us to discuss the budget properly,” said Karachi PTI president Firdous Shamim at a press conference held at the Insaf House on Wednesday.

Naqvi said the Rs22 million surplus budget, which had earnings of 23.848 million and expenditures of Rs23.826 billion, was approved in only two minutes. “This is a shameful and unconstitutional act. It alludes to damaging intentions on the part of those ruling the KMC,” he stated.

Regarding the date of the protest, Naqvi said it would be announced a consultation with party chief Imran Khan.

He also asked the Sindh government to appoint a new governor, saying the next governor should be a popular person without any political affiliations.

On this occasion, Sindh Assembly member Khurram Sherzaman said both the leader of the opposition and the city mayor had been exposed and the act showed the MQM and the PPP had the same agenda. “The mayor is continuously crying for resources and powers but the government’s silence on the appointment proved both the parties are serious to resolve the issues,” he said.

A day earlier, outrage dominated the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation’s (KMC) city council session with the opposition walking out of the meeting because they were denied a debate over the revised KMC budget for the current fiscal year.

The session started with Karachi Mayor Waseem Akhtar in chair, but 10 minutes later he had to leave for an urgent meeting so Deputy Mayor Dr Arshad Vohra took over.

When Vohra put the surplus budget of Rs220 million to the vote, it was unanimously passed by the treasury benches. The opposition members demanded a detailed discussion over the financial statement, but the deputy mayor denied it.

The opposition then tore their copies of the budget and walked out of the session. A few independent members, however, remained seated because the protesters could not win them over.

Jamaat-e-Islami’s Junaid Mukati complained that the opposition was not taken into confidence before presenting the budget. Vohra told him that the revised financial statement had already been approved by the previous KMC administrator.

Mukati insisted that the budget still warranted a debate and pushed for discussing it in the next session, adding that the mayor had assured every party that they would be taken on board as regards development works in the city.